A Kiss Before Midnight
by Nedy Rahn
Summary: Years after her return from the dead Charley Baltimore is asked by Home World Security to spy on the Twelve Colonies.


29

A Kiss Before Midnight

_By_

_D. L. Hemmingway_

A/N:

This is an idea I had after the umpteenth viewing of my DVD of _A Long Kiss Goodnight_. It is a Crossover of that movie and the TV series of _Stargate: SG-1/ Atlantis/ Universe_, and _Reimaged Battlestar Galactica (BSG: 2003)._

It is set against the back drop of a war between the Colonies and Earth as in Reunions are a Bitch and other similar stories.

I own none of the works mentioned. These are owned by their writers, producers, executive producers and production companies.

**A Kiss Before Midnight**

I was looking at myself in the full-length mirror in the apartment that the Special Projects Division had arranged for me and my husband. It was decided on the deep cover mission to help the cover story that it would be one based on my real life. On Earth in Colorado I was a high school history teacher. Here on Picon that was how my cover began. It seems that Special Projects had set me up as a teacher at the Athena High School at the Base Housing Center for Picon Fleet Headquarters.

Here I teach sophomore, junior, and senior Colonial History and Civics. The Home World Security Command's Special Projects Division somehow got me teaching credentials with the Colonial Ministry of Education under my cover name back on Earth, Samantha Caine. SPD also seemed to have managed to setup that I was a Colonial Marine Corps Reserve Lieutenant Colonel.

That was why I was now dressing in my Colonial Marine Corps Dress Blacks. My Blouse was draped over the chair to my dressing table. I had cut my wavy locks back to the strait hairstyle I wore in the early 1990s on Earth. I didn't bleach it this time. The funny thing about my cover story, I am also a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve back on Earth.

Two years before the attack by the Liberation Fleet from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol had left the Colonies I was approached by then Brigadier General Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill and a Colonel Samantha "Sam" Carter-O'Neill. My first though on meeting them was that someone was somehow violating the rule about two military personnel being married that were in the same chain of command.

Only they were the Officer in Charge and Assistant Officer in Charge of HWSC-SPD and the Air Force didn't care. That was some pull. Well I had a Distinguished Service Cross for a classified action against enemies of the Constitution and the United States within the Homeland. I was a classified mission that took a total of eight years to complete. Eight of those years I was suffering from focal retrograde amnesia. I am Lt. Col. Charlene "Charly" Baltimore. I am a spy and counter assassin for Home World Security. That was the offer that the O'Neills offered me and that was the end of my life on Earth. Now I am in deep cover on Picon, The Twelve Colonies of Kobol.

The proviso I added to my reactivation four years ago was to have a complete set of current issue Marine Corps uniforms. I had my bags packed with my Colonial Marine Corps duty uniforms and utilities in my duffle bag along with my USMC dress blues and officer's saber. The uniform and dress sword was secreted away in my bags. My bags were packed I was just examining my collection of scars. They were my other awards for my valor in the name of the people of the United States. My colonial issue weapons belt had a flapped holster and a Colonial Armed Forces issue 9 mm service pistol. It reminded me of the Sig-Saur I had back home on Earth. I have never been late if I could help it in my life, so I put my bra on and then my dress shirt. I was to catch the Colonial Heavy Transport from Picon to Scorpia. I was being assigned to Chief of Security on the Colonial Fleet Battlestar Pegasus.

One last look in the mirror and then I put my back up pistol in my concealment holster in the small of my back. This was a compact version of the Colonial pistol in my service holster. I put on my Dress Black jacket or blouse and then my belt and holster. Then I put my main sidearm in the holster. My official orders I kept in a portfolio that I usually carried all my important papers in when traveling on orders. I put on my overcoat because it was the local winter.

My husband whose cover was also that of a school teacher waited in our car to drive me to the Fleet Spaceport. That was where I would catch the transport. The trip from the housing facility to the spaceport took about fifteen minutes. Traffic on base was minimal as it was a local holiday. Holidays did not matter too much to the Fleet though. I still had to be on this transport to Scorpia to be on time at their military space port to catch the shuttle to the Pegasus.

We reached the spaceport with time to spare. Hal dropped me off at the terminal and helped me with my bags. I shouldered them with my duffle bag hanging like a backpack from my shoulders. I slung my ballistic nylon attaché from my left shoulder. Then Hal hugged me much the same as he did when I went away as a Marine Major to Kosovo and later as a Lieutenant Colonel to Iraq. He had tears running down his cheeks from the corners of his eyes.

"I won't be gone long Hal," I said. "Everything will be over soon." I kissed him on the lips. He kissed me back, "I know Sam, and we will be home with Caitlin soon."

"You know she has almost followed in her mother's footsteps. Like me she's a Marine," I smiled. He looked at me and whispered in my ear, "As long as she doesn't follow in them too far." I knew he meant that one assassin in the family was enough. I truly think he'd prefer that I return to teaching after we return home. Four years is a long time away from home on assignment.

He walked me up to the departure gate, "Have I ever told you I loved you Sam?" I smiled back, "Only millions of times Hal." Then we kissed once more making the Colonial Fleet Lieutenant checking orders blush.

I walked down the gantry way to the airlock. I turned once to wave goodbye again. He was watching from the observation area and waved. I blew a kiss to my lover and he blew one back. Then I turned walked to the airlock and saluted the Officer at there. "Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Caine, requesting permission to come aboard," I said as I handed him my travel orders.

"Permission granted, welcome aboard Colonial Heavy 658," the Officer said.

I looked at my watch, not bad. I had plenty of time to get my duffle and attaché stowed away and take my seat in the First Class section. I was shown to my sleeping berth where I stowed my duffle bag and attaché. After I used the head or fresher for you civilians, I headed to the First Class club. There I took a seat and a Stewardess gave me a highball of ambrosia neat. Though I like Jack Daniels or José Cuervo, Ambrosia is not too bad.

The ambrosia was smooth and warmed me just right. I leaned back more into the seat as the space craft lifted off the launch pad. Looking out the portals the land fell away rapidly. First the buildings got smaller, then the city, and finally I was high enough to see all of Picon as we obtained orbit for a few laps prior to making the jump to Scorpia. I hate the Colonial way of making faster than light jumps. Folding really sucks. That is the main reason I drink on space flights these days. Fucking Colonials, I much prefer hyperdrives and their jumps.

We left the jump seconds later. "Frak, I swear that never fells good," I said below my breath. One of the other Colonial officers smirked at me. She looked Amerasian or Eurasian with slightly European features or American ones. She was the complexion of someone from the south of China or Okinawa with dark eyes and shoulder length wavy hair. "Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Caine Colonial Marine Corps Reserve," I said as I offered her my hand in greeting.

"Lieutenant Kendra Shaw, Colonial Fleet," she said. She took my hand, "Glad to meet you sir." Her grip was firm without being overly aggressive like many males have. She looked confident and was well groomed. She had minimal service awards on her sash or tunic.

Me on the other hand, I had the Colonial equivalent of all my United States service medals and awards on my sash or tunic. She eyed my collection and nodded, "You have some impressive awards and decorations for someone as young as you are Sir."

The "Sir," grated on my nerves a little, but I suppressed my irritation. "Yes many of these were earned during pirate or terrorism suppression campaigns over the years. Many of them were quite dicey. As they say sometimes you have to roll a Hard Six."

I've roll many a hard six over the years prior to coming to the Colonies. Suddenly my senses were tingling. Trouble was near. Then I noticed her. She looked like the two others sitting in the Business Class section. She had honey blond wavy hair that fell to her should blades. She kind of reminded me of Tricia Helfer back on Earth. Then there were two more sitting in the next conversation area over from where Lieutenant Shaw and I were sitting. They each had a slightly different look, but either they were family or someone out this way was cloning people.

"Lieutenant Shaw, look around slowly and without attracting attention, but do some of our fellow passengers look like they were twins or some sort of copy of each other?" I said quietly trying to look like I was reading the local version of Newsweek. I think it was the Colonial Times Weekly. It had been two years now since the "Liberation" Fleet got handed its collective asses by Earth's smaller but more agile fleet and several million men and women surrendered to the forces of the IOA. I knew from my contacts in the chain of information back to Earth that many were being held on Earth's off-world colonies. I even knew that many that landed in Africa around the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda will never make it home. The Colonials really should have investigated us closer before trying to invade. We learned our lessons with the Langarans, Tollans, and Hiberians. We investigate for a long time before making first contact anymore. We wanted no more Genii. Only the Colonials thought they had found us first. We let them believe that too. That was why I have been here since two years before their attempted invasion.

"Yes sir, they do seem to look an awful lot alike. Though not too much so. I think you are right sir. May I ask, what is your reason for going to Scorpia?" Lt. Shaw looked at me inquisitively.

"Lieutenant you are looking at the new Chief of Security for Battlestar Group – 62," I said boldly. The half-dozen look a likes turned and watched when I said that.

Hmm…curious, I made a mental note of all their faces. Though similar they did do some things differed between them enough to make them look like different people to the casual observer. I am not she though. I'm far from the casual observer. Being a spy and former assassin I never go anywhere without casing the place for exits, choke points, and any improvised weapons around. This being wartime, I was armed, but we were will away from the front. Still the Fleet and the Marine Corps were requiring their officers to travel with their service side arms ready on their belts. I felt I was in wartime Nazi Germany almost. Only there weren't trainloads of Jews and other undesirables going east.

No, far from that, the Colonials were paranoids though. The officers carried pistols openly and concealed for their own protection from mobs and in these days fanatics that would blow themselves and the ships they're on just to push the Colonial government to force Earth into the fold. This trip turned out to be a safe voyage though as we began to descend into Scorpia's atmosphere.

We landed safely in at the Scorpia Military Space Port then went by the Colonial version of a humvee toward a tent on the far side of the launch pads. The look alikes went their separate ways with two of them coming with us. These two were wearing Integral Systems Engineering uniforms. One had auburn hair that was cut short to the ears and spiked, and the other had wavy red hair the same length as mine. As Buffy the Vampire Slayer used to say her spidy senses were tingling. Mine were going off like a security alarm at major bank during a break-in. Something was not quite right about those two ISE employees.

I mentally filed that thought away as we were bused from the terminal to an open field with multiple military shuttles and Raptors parked in the recently mowed grass. Then we were let out in front of a naval tent being used to house the unit processing people going to the various ships in the orbital dry dock above Scorpia. I showed my orders to the Yeoman doing in-take. He took his copy then handed back the rest of my orders.

I found a folding chair to sit in while I waited for my name to be called to board my Raptor or shuttle. Lt. Shaw was next to me as were the twins. "Shaw, I guess it's true then." I said.

"What's true sir?" Kendra said looking the direction I was at the twins.

"That somewhere on the worlds everyone has a twin," I was observing the two IES employees. Shaw looked at them too and nodded.

"Yes I guess you're right sir, only I think these two have several," Shaw using her stare pointed out several more around the tent. I counted ten so far including our twins. Half of the duplicates had on IES uniforms.

"I wonder if Tricia Helfer knows she has this many sisters about," I mused softly as I noticed a Petty Officer holding a clipboard come to our section and call out names, "Inviere, Sylvia, Inviere, Petra, Caine, Samantha, Shaw, Kendra…" He called our names and we all picked up our duffels and followed him to the waiting Raptor.

We boarded the Raptor and took seats on the bench seat next to the hatch and I took the Co-Pilot's seat. Staring back at Kendra I gave her the Rank Has Its Privileges look. She just pouted, so unbecoming a junior officer with her linage. The ECO in his seat just smirked at the two of us. Next I felt the sudden change in inertia as we lifted off.

Again I got to witness the rapidly changing view as we lifted off and made for orbit. First it was the buildings falling away and growing smaller. Next it was the planet as we eventually broke atmosphere and headed now toward the great orbital ship yard the Fleet maintained over Scorpia. We skirted around the massive space station until we came to its berth. It was magnificent. In bold Colonial writing on the forward bow of the port flight pod was _**PEGASUS**_. The pilot got clearance to land and we entered the aft opening of the port pod. Like a helicopter the pilot set down the small utility craft on its mark on the landing pad/ elevator to take us down from the Flight Deck to the Hangar Deck.

As the Raptor was lowered once we were clear of the Flight Deck, a huge hatch closed overhead. Now we were in the airlock between the decks and it was being pressurized as we went down. I felt the sudden stop as the elevator's platform stopped at the large double doors that opened to the Hanger Deck and Bay 1. The doors opened as the Raptor was rotated on a turntable built into the deck of the elevator.

This was not the first trip to a Battlestar or even a Colonial Fleet vessel for me since I arrived in the Colonies so the fascination long ago wore off. Their technology wasn't all that gee whiz considering Earth learned transporter technology and others from the Asgard. It really reminded me what an Earth ship would be like if we just adapted say submarine and aircraft carrier design for use in space. The interior of the Hangar Deck looked nearly like any other I saw in my time in the Marines back on Earth. To tell the truth when we evaluated the Colonies they were really not that more advanced than us. If it had not been for their Cylon War now, they would have been to us as we are to those that lived in the World War Two Era on Earth.

As we were lowering into the Hangar Bay I took the time to get my personal laptop-tablet registered with the local ship's intranet. By the time we had been moved to our place on the deck of the Hangar Bay I was fully integrated into their system. One of the perks of having continued my education after leaving Chapter and the CIA was that now I was one of the top Computer experts in the nation back home. In the little Colorado high school where Gen. O'Neill and his wife recruited me from into Special Projects Division I was one of the History teachers, one of the Social Science teachers and the Computer Technology teacher. I also coached the school's shooting team. It was ironic in a way that what I did on Earth is what I do here.

I was walking with Shaw next to me when we spotted another of the Inviere sisters. This one had sandy brown hair done up in a bun. She had wire framed glasses and was working on a computer console with her own tablet computer. Again like the other two Sylvia and Petra she was wearing IES coveralls. Her name tag said Gina.

She did manage to make her look significantly enough different that she only had a familiar resemblance to the other two. I broke the ice, "Excuse me miss, Lieutenant Shaw and I are new to the ship could you show us on your tablet the fastest way to the CIC?"

She turned as saw us both. Shaw was at my left and looking like she was lost when in fact I had the schematic of the ship on my tablet showing the route from the Hangar Bay to the main core of the ship and the CIC. Shaw could read my laptop's screen which I held in tablet fashion. Unlike her sisters when Gina looked me in the eyes I could see another predator looking back. Also my um…gaydar went ballistic. You see save for Hal and a few targets, I have mostly had female lovers. Though I'm more attracted to women like Kendra Shaw than Gina Inviere. "I am Gina Inviere, I was working on the upgrades to the now canceled Command Navigation Program, but since the repairs and refits were so extensive on the Pegasus I have been helping to repair the computer network. Oh and yes I can show you the easiest way to the CIC from here." She came up along side me on the right so she could see my screen.

I watched as she did some moves with her stylist on her screen and then transferred them over to mine via the ship's network. "There this is a better path to the CIC than the one the Ship's direction guide gives you," Gina said.

Shaw looked like she had been calculating something herself, "Inviere, isn't that old Gemenese for resurrection?" She was staring at Gina now. I gave her a slight nudge with my elbow. She stared back up at me as if to say "what".

Gina just smiled and nodded, "Why yes it is. My family is originally from Gemenon and we were scattered to some degree by the Cylon War and the Colonial Wars before that. I am from Caprica myself."

I smiled and then nodded toward the other two Invieres who were hugging before parting and going their respective directions, "It seems the family resemblance runs strong in you three."

Though she did not telegraph it to Shaw or the rest of those in the Hangar Bay around us her demeanor slightly changed as did her stance toward me. Her pupils contracted as if she were sighting in on me. In return I gave her a similar look. It said in effect, _I have your number girly and will be calling it soon._ "Thank you for your help Ms. Inviere. Lieutenant Shaw and I have to pay our respects to the Admiral and then find our quarters. We will be seeing you around I suspect."

"Yes Colonel, I suspect you well," Gina waved as we parted. _Bitch, she's another spy and I know it,_ I thought as Shaw and I walked to the CIC.

The CIC was busy. Admiral Helena Cain the butcher of Melbourne stood there in her Colonial Fleet Dress Grays running the show. If this had been a suicidal termination mission I could have killed her and the entire Command Crew then, but I was not under such orders from SPD. You may say my license to kill had limitations on this mission.

When the time was right I was to place a transponder on her so that the cloaked Daedalus Class ship scouting the Cyrannus System ahead of the main fleet could snag her, me and later Hal before it hyperjumped back to Earth. Unfortunately someone else had other plans.

Lieutenant Shaw and I approached the Admiral and in turn handed her our orders. We came to attention and saluted. "Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Caine and Lieutenant Kendra Shaw, reporting for duty as ordered Sir!" I said while handing her my orders and Shaw's over to her.

Adm. Cain took the two envelopes with Shaw's and my orders within them. Then she looked me in the eyes, "I hope you and the Lieutenant had a good cup of coffee Colonel."

"Yes, Sir we did, though I prefer mine to be a little stronger. Other than that is was fine," I said straight faced. We were a little late, but not late enough to deserve a dressing down. "Though, I did stop one of the Inviere triplets to see if I had the correct path to the CIC on my tablet Sir. After all I did not want the Lieutenant and me to be lost on our first time on a Battlestar. Have to look out for the men and all you know Sir." That took the wind out of her sails as it were.

"Fine, don't be late again. Lieutenant just because you are friends with the new Chief of Security and your late mother was one of the delegates from Caprica to the Quorum of the Twelve doesn't mean I will be cutting you any slack. What goes for the Colonel here goes doubly for you. You are my Aide-de-Camp and as such you have to set an example to the other Junior Officers of the Pegasus."

Shaw looked at the Admiral with a bit of shock on her face and a look of what did I get myself into, "No ma'am I expect no special privileges. I have so far not used the influence of those senior officers I know or my mother's to advance my career. I intend to do so, on my own." She then had a stiffing of her back that showed she found her ground and was standing it against Cain. The Admiral and I both noticed this. That was when I smiled at this young Lieutenant. She would go far if Earth and the Colonies ever do bury the hatchet and not in each other's backs. The Admiral smiled too, "Good Lieutenant you will go far in the Fleet if you keep that attitude, but don't turn down help when it is offered sincerely. Carry on. Mister Hoshi, see that the Lieutenant Colonel and the Lieutenant are shown to their quarters." Hoshi answered with a crisp, "Yes sir," and picked up both Shaw's and my duffels. The Admiral looked at both of us, "I am sure you know space is a premium on this ship. Thus I have assigned you both to a cabin near mine. Mister Hoshi will show you two to it. Now Lieutenant Colonel see to it Shaw is never late again."

"Believe me Sir she won't be late again. If she is billeting with me she will be up early on Ship's Dawn for Physical Training and as the Marines and some of the Junior Officers will soon find out I enjoy and love PT," I said with a sadistic smile.

The Admiral smirked at that as Lieutenant Hoshi lead us out of the CIC. As I left through the glass panel that functioned as the door I swear I heard the Admiral and Colonel Belzen snicker and snort, then one of them said, "A little mid morning snack?"

We had not gone far down the companion way toward our quarters from the CIC when I felt the deck shudder beneath my feet. Then there were multiple explosions of electronics, pressurized pipes and tubing along the corridor. A piece of ceiling panel fell on Mr. Hoshi knocking him out. Lieutenant Shaw and I were knocked off our feet. I was busy getting her back up off the floor when I heard the Admiral, "Get up Shaw, pull yourself together, and follow the Colonel back to the CIC!" Then the Admiral slapped her real hard across the face. Shaw's look of confusion was suddenly replaced by a one of clarity and sense of purpose. Then the Admiral helped me get her back to her feet.

We ran the thirty or so feet to the CIC. Once in there the Admiral went to the plot table, I moved the now obviously dead Computer Officer away from her work station. Shaw did the same with the one at the Jump-Drive Controls. The screen of the console had exploded right into the face of the Jump Officer with a large long sliver of glass protruding out one of his eye sockets. No way was he alive.

I looked at the computers and everything was corrupted, "Admiral the computers are totally corrupted, some sort of virus has trashed all systems. The only way we can fix this is to do a shut down and reboot using back-ups."

"Acknowledged, Ms. Shaw, jump us as soon as we are clear of our moorings," the Admiral ordered.

Shaw looked at us incredulously, "I can't jump without coordinates from the computer. We may wind up in a Sun, a planet or something!"

"Do it Shaw, else we are all dead anyway!" Cain shouted, "Do it now!"

"DRADIS contact!" the Tactical Officer shouted, "In bound missiles, four of them!"

"Shaw what are you waiting for turn the gods damn key!" Cain yelled.

The USS Independence DSC-304-5 AF was cloaked and just off of the Pegasus. It was monitoring the location of Lt. Col. Samantha Caine via her implanted transponder's signal. The Independence was on surveillance duty in the Cyrannus System when the Cylons attacked. She had received the warning from General O'Neill when the Joint Task Force detected the gathering Cylon ships just outside of Colonial Space.

Captain Louis Poindexter (USN) had been in command of the Indi since her christening and commissioning. Now he was in the command chair of the Indi with a ringside seat to a massacre. The Cylon motherships had jumped in nearly right on top of the huge orbital dry-dock over the planet Scorpia. Also more of them had jumped in just over the planet itself. He only had one Daedalus-Class ship with which to aid the Colonials, but his mission was to monitor Col. Caine, err, Col. Charlene "Charly" Baltimore. Because when Gen. O'Neill was to have given the signal he was to transport Charly to the ship's briefing room and Rear Admiral Helena Cain to the brig.

In his HUD and through the main view port of the Bridge, Capt. Poindexter saw that the PEGASUS was trying to make a run for it. "Helm, take us in close to the Pegasus and attach us to their hull. I think the Peggy is about to jump!"

"Aye, sir!" then the Indi flew like a fighter, did a barrel roll and attached itself to the underside of the main hull with its gravitics field. Like a pilot fish with a shark the Indi was now going to go wherever the Pegasus went. Almost as soon as they attached themselves to the Pegasus there was a sudden stretching out of the bridge, then almost as suddenly everything snapped back to its regular and normal state. "God damn what was that?" Capt. Poindexter yelled. He felt nauseous and had a slight migraine like headache. "Have the Sickbay check everyone out after that! I want to know if we had any injuries! Also find out where the hell we are!" He yelled those orders before anyone could answer his original question. He looked around to see if anyone on the Bridge had been injured during the spatial event that just happened. "Is everyone here ok?"

The Sensors Officer looked at him, "Sir we just experienced a fold of space."

"So that is how the Colonials evaded our sensor arrays," Poindexter said as he sat back down in the command chair. "Are we still receiving Colonel Baltimore's signal?"

"Yes sir, five by five," the Communications Officer said.

"Stay attached to the Pegasus we are going to see what they are up to," Poindexter said. "Also keep us cloaked! I don't want some pilot on CAP seeing us here like a lamprey."

"Aye sir," the Pilot said.

The Colonial Fleet Battlestar Pegasus drifted in space in one of the uninhabited star systems near Cyrannus. The ship's exterior lights were out along with the main maneuvering drives. The only ships active around it were the Vipers and the Raptor of the Combat Air Patrol (CAP).

Inside the CIC everyone was recovering from the emergency jump. Admiral Cain helped Colonel Belzen to his feet. Lieutenant Colonel Caine did the same with Lieutenant Shaw and some other people around her. Then without waiting for orders she shut down and rebooted the ships computers. At that time Gina Inviere and her two twins showed up in the CIC along with some Fleet personnel. Knowing the layout of a ship's computer station though, Lt. Col. Caine began inserting the disks that contained the Pegasus' last back-ups into the disk player/ burner. After two hours of downloading from the disks she was ready to reinitiate the ship's primary systems. The Inviere sisters went around aiding with rebooting the secondary and tertiary systems. The each had a Colonial officer with them. Gina was escorted by Lt. Shaw. The ship was up and running after another hour. Some hardware had to be replaced from ship's stores, but the ship was now able to communicate with itself and its fighters. Now the butcher's bill could be tallied.

I spent the next several hours, then days checking and rechecking our protocols for any security breaches. That was when with Lt. Shaw's help I found the culprit. Someone had left multiple back doors in our system even though the entire CNP or Command Navigation Program had not yet been installed that which was allowed a Trojan horse to be left within the system and on some preset order received from out side the ship the Trojan went to work. We were compromised in less than a minute.

Lt. Shaw and I presented our findings to Admiral Cain. She looked at our report and then stabbed the lock-blade knife she had been playing with into the surface of the plot table. I could tell she had just blown her cool and was trying not to show it. "Did you reroute all our systems so as not to reactivate this logic bomb?"

"Admiral to purge the system of it I and Lieutenant Shaw personally did all the dumping of memory cores and hard-drives. We then rebooted from disk that were backed up prior to the refit." I showed her on the logs and in the report. "Then we tested every system. We enlisted the help of Gina and her sisters in completing this task. The Triplets were useful to our recovery from this." The only way we could accept the Inviere sisters at that time was to call them the Triplets. After all there were three of them and they looked pretty much alike.

Adm. Cain looked at me and Shaw, "So we can resume operations at anytime?"

"Yes," Shaw and I said shaking our heads. Cain was pretty intelligent despite a tendency to do stupid things like order the nuclear attack of Earth. That action was in clear violation of Adm. Nagala's orders. I had been forwarded the transcripts of Nagala's interrogation when I was assigned this mission. Now I had to get Cain to isolate herself and the Pegasus from the rest of the Colonial Fleet. The Cylon attack looked like the right opportunity to exploit.

"Admiral, since it was obviously a Cylon attack I suggest that we go Cylon hunting," I was looking at the plot table. "I suggest we send some Raptors to scout the systems around the Colonies to find the Cylons' staging area and raid it. Don't attack it with the intention of destroying, just to cause the machines mass confusion."

Shaw looked at where I was going then nodded, "Yes sir, we do hit and run attacks. We find either weakly defended bases, space stations, etc. Then we hit the most accessible and valuable targets within those systems. We don't linger to engage in a stand up fight."

Col. Jurgen Belzen then looked at Shaw and I with some respect, "Admiral they talk some sense, after all we are way out beyond the Red Line limitation on the FTL and will need to scout our way back to the Colonies anyway. We could do hit and run guerilla like raids while we find our way back to the Colonies and home."

Cain looked at the three of us; you could see her mind was calculating her next actions. She nodded and played with her knife. "You realize we may have to raid for supplies from the Cylons too, well at least Tylium anyway. We have enough other stores to last us quite awhile in a combat zone. Lieutenant Colonel Fisk, how are our repairs going on the weapons systems?"

The older Lt. Col. looked up at us and then at his monitor, "Main Batteries report functional and ready for service, the flak batteries likewise. Only the missile batteries are having difficulties at the moment one of the inner hatches is not sealing right. Damage Control and Maintenance are working to resolve that problem as we speak." He looked back up at Adm. Cain and us to see if we heard his report. The man was not the most fit for duty lately. Of Cain's crew he was the most out of shape, the most unfit, and likely to be the first transferred when the chance presented itself.

The while Col. Belzen, Lt. Col. Fisk, Lt. Shaw, and myself were making the rounds to see what damage needed to be repaired Fisk showed one of several stashed of contraband he had hidden around the ship. The man was a disgrace to anyone's uniform. I mean I may have done my best work over the years out of uniform, but I never did anything to disgrace the Marine Corps or myself even in the line of duty. Fisk is a USDA certified pig. He nearly reminds me of Perkins.

Perkins headed my former employer's black ops anti-terrorist operation Chapter. That was years before I was called back to duty by the events of September 11, long before now. My last actions back then brought down Perkins' personal empire. I let my private investigator at the time Mitchell Hennessey take the credit as I wanted nothing but to fade again into the wood work at the time. By 2000 I had served twenty years in the Marine Corps and took my retirement. Then 9/ 11 occurred and I was again in uniform. Shortly after that then Brigadier General and Colonel O'Neill both approached me about Special Projects Division. At first I thought it was a rebirth of Chapter, but no I was wrong. Since coming into SPD I was sent around to the Galaxy to various trouble spots. I have assassinated Lucian Alliance officials, Genii generals, Ori Priors, you name it. I was even involved in the apprehension of Ba'al. Now I was going to bring in the Butcher of Melbourne.

The next day in the CIC I looked at my target as she pondered our next moves. Cain looked at me, "Sam what do you think we should go after first?" We were looking over some recon photos of several different Cylon bases or even isolated ships. One caught my eye. It was of a long, nearly Battlestar length ship that reminded me of the Crystal Cathedral in California. "This one, they are guarding it with five to six of their new Basestars. Thus it must be important somehow. I suspect it is some sort of command ship. That goes and coordination of the other ships in its fleet is diminished." Cain and Belzen nodded at me.

Cain spoke first, "I agree, now how to take it out and not get into a slug fest with its escorts?"

Belzen examined the pictures of the ship closely, "We could use the Pegasus as bait to lure the escorts or most of them away. Then jump a Raptor loaded with nuclear ordnance to within close launching range of the command ship. Next the Raptor fires its missiles in a full spread. After firing it immediately jumps back to us, lands, and we recover all Vipers then jump out of system as soon as the command ship goes."

Shaw and I smiled as Cain nodded accepting Belzen's plan. She looked at the three of us, "It's a go. Find the pilot and ECO for the Raptor. Then refine the plan more. We will discuss it at Admiral's Table this evening."

Shaw and I went back to our cabin as our shift was over. She and I had developed a strong relationship in the short time we have been together. It had only been days since the attack on the Colonies. Now as comrades-in-arms and even lovers we were close. Unlike the United States at the time, the Colonial Armed Forces did not have regulations against same-sex romances. I was married I know, but Hal never made me give up my love of other women. Besides I am a one man woman. Now the same goes for my women. I had not been in an affair for years even after coming to the Colonies. Being in such close proximity to Lieutenant Kendra Shaw had rekindled those feelings within me. During the days since the attacks and our emergency jump her and I spent most of our off time in our cabin. Some of it was spent entwined together in my bunk with the sheets tangled around us. She was a regular Athena to my Diana. We had hit it off from the start.

It was after our discussion of our raid on the command ship in the CIC that once we got back to our cabin I was surprised to see my USMC dress blues hanging on the outside of my locker door. I guess Kendra saw my look of shock, dismay, and fear. "Before you go off and kill me to protect your cover Sam, don't you think you ought to brief me on how you were planning to arrest Cain and get her off her own Battlestar?" She was looking at me not in an accusing way or a heart-broken way either. It was like she didn't care that her girlfriend was a spy.

"I found the Officer's Manual in the files of your laptop dear. Then I had one of my people in the crew clean it and make sure all your decorations and awards were in the right place. If from what I read, that blue ribbon with the white stars means you are a major hero to your people," Kendra said.

"Yes," I looked at her then the uniform. "I earned in during the early days of the War in Afghanistan where I lead a Marine Corps special operations unit." I took her in my arms and we moved closer to my uniform.

"How long have you been a spy Sam?" Kendra asked.

"Its Charly, Charlene Elizabeth Baltimore. That's my real name. Samantha Caine is my cover and has been for a long time," I said as I embraced my lover. "You don't seem to be upset Lieutenant Kendra Shaw."

"You didn't answer my question Charly," Kendra said as she kissed me.

"I have served my nation as an intelligence officer and special operations operative for most of my career. I was recruited by the CIA almost directly out of the Naval Academy at Annapolis." I kissed her this time. "CIA stands for…"

"The Central Intelligence Agency, I know, I read your laptop. Your people should have not left the encrypted data files on the machine's hard drive or the subspace access to your world's internet. Not good planning for such a deep cover operation. By the way my actual rank is Captain." Kendra kissed me again and managed to get us into our bunk, well my bunk. "I am a Captain in the Colonial Fleet Criminal Investigation Service. I was assigned to Cain as her Aide-de-Camp in order to arrest her for her actions in the failed attack on Earth. From what I read from your files that is your mission too. So let us work together and perhaps we can start on the road to increased cooperation between our peoples."

"What about my uniform Captain Shaw?" I said looking over at my dress blues.

Sometime during her interrogation of me, we had managed to undress ourselves and she was on top of me. Her breasts were pressing against mine. She looked at the dress blues then, "Wear them when we arrest Cain. Your charges of War Crimes are heavier than ours for disobeying Admiral Nagala's orders. Earth has first option on her. Besides I have talked with Colonel Poindexter on the Independence via your computer we will beam over to your ship once we have Cain."

"So when do we take down Cain?" I asked as I traced the outline of her face with my left index finger. We were talking the soft voices lovers use. "What will you do after this Kendra? You may not be allowed to go home you know."

"I know, Cain's backers within the Fleet have a lot of pull and sway," Kendra said before kissing my nose. Then she looked me directly in the eyes, "They will likely brand me a traitor you know. Cain's taken me under her wing and even gave me a speech about becoming a Razor. She held up her lock-blade and said when you can become one of these, a weapon, a tool, that can fight without thinking, without remorse then you are a Razor. I think she has had some trauma she doesn't tell anyone about. I overheard her as she was napping onetime yell out a girl's name. I think it was her sister. Her youngest sister went missing about the time the Cylons pulled out of the Colonies."

"Do you think the War with Earth and the current one with the Cylons have unhinged her?" I asked.

"I do," Kendra said. "She is not the same as when we came aboard the Pegasus those weeks ago. I think the attacks have rekindled some sort of on going memory of hers." Kendra snuggled close to me and we kissed once more before fading off to sleep. It was getting late for us and then Kendra looked at me in the eyes, "A kiss before midnight Charly?"

I nodded. We kissed deeply knowing tomorrow we would be completing our mission. Helena Cain would answer for her crimes. Hopefully the Gods or God will show here forgiveness. I don't think the people of Australia will.

The next morning we jumped to the location of the command ship, but it and its escorts had already jumped. We sent out Raptors to scout again and found another target. This time it was a communications relay. It looked like it was only defended by a small detachment of Raiders. So we decided to use the same plane we were for the command ship.

We jumped in. Kendra and I were in the CIC with the rest of the Pegasus Command Staff. We were all looking over the plot table as we began the operation. As we launched our main strike group the Sensor Officer shouted, "DRADIS contact! Two… no five Basestars just jumped in system. New DRADIS contacts, more Raiders. There are two hundred at least." The Sensor Officer, the CAG, and the Tactical Officer all had looks of dread on their faces for they realized that we just sent twenty pilots to their doom. We had to salvage this somehow. This was not the same as when we convinced Cain to defend rather than steal from the civilian fleet of people fleeing the fighting in the Colonies.

Belzen, Shaw, and I looked up knowing that this had been a trap. Belzen was the first to voice his thoughts, "Helena we need to recall our Vipers and jump away. This is not what we agreed on at the planning session. We weren't going to sacrifice ourselves in the name of revenge. Besides we don't know if the Colonies were completely destroyed or not. We just did a blind jump to escape the destruction of Scorpia Yards. Since then we have been raiding their rear areas when the odd were in our favor. Admiral the odds are not in our favor now. We most jump and select another target."

Belzen was calm as he spoke, but he looked into Adm. Cain's eyes as we all did. I am sure Jurgen saw the same conflict in Adm. Cain's face I did. She was fighting an urge to do something rash. "Admiral Cain, Belzen is right we win nothing by needlessly sacrificing our pilots or ourselves. All we do here is to give the Toasters another chance to kill humans. Personally I would rather skip this fight and find another where the odds favor us. A wise man once said you don't win wars by dying for your country. You win wars by making the other dumb son of a bitch die for his. In this case all we are doing is letting the Cylons win another round against Humanity. If we had the whole Battlestar Group here I would be backing your play to engage the new targets, but we don't and we need to recall our pilots before they are lost in a forlorn hope. Admiral, please would you calm yourself down, think rationally, and be the leader you are. We don't want you to risk your career again like over Earth. I read the reports sir. You almost lost your commission over that order for the nuclear attack. Don't risk it again. The Colonies, no Humanity needs its combat leaders now more than ever." I noticed that her demeanor was changing she was calming down. I visibly saw her let out a long breath. "That's it Admiral breath, relax, calm down before you do something we all will regret."

Calmly Adm. Cain looked at us, "Jurgen you have the Con, get our people home and jump the ship. I will be in my quarters. I need to rethink my actions just now." She left the CIC followed by Gina Inviere.

Before Inviere exited, I grabbed arm then whispered in her ear, "Keep her in her quarters. I know that you and she are like Kendra and I. She needs some consoling and some compassion now. I know that it may come hard for you, but if you want to be more like us you need to learn to control and to use your emotions correctly. Now is the time to be her friend and lover. Yes I know about you and your sisters. Don't frak this up and you all may live longer and not have to do what ever it is when you die." She looked at me with some real fear in her eyes then followed after her lover.

I turned back to Belzen and Kendra. "Kendra we need to complete our real missions soon before the Admiral totally loses it like she did during the failed liberation of Earth." I looked then directly into Belzen's eyes. "Jurgen are you a true Colonial patriot?"

He nodded, "Yes Colonel I am."

"Give the order for the Vipers to return to the Pegasus. Then get us the hells out of here," I said. "That is just my advice sir. We win nothing by fighting to the last man or woman on this ship. Meet Kendra and myself in our quarters after this. We have a job to do that needs done. Helena Cain is not fit for duty anymore. She almost came to murdering you Colonel. It's time to get her the help she needs."

Thirty minutes later there was a knock on our cabin door. Kendra went to answer it. She was now in her proper uniform as was I. She was wearing the insignia of a Captain and the branch insignia of the Colonial Fleet Criminal Investigation Service. I was in my USMC dress blues. I was not going to be shot as a spy or spaced for that matter either.

Kendra let Col. Belzen in. He looked at me with my dress uniform on complete with the black Sam Brown belt, officer's saber, and USMC issue side arm. He then noticed the rank insignia and the rack of awards and decorations. Kendra looked at him and said, "Colonel Jurgen Belzen meet Lieutenant Colonel Charlene Elizabeth Baltimore of the United States Marine Corps. It seems we both were running under cover operations focusing on Admiral Cain. I was going to arrest her to face Court Martial charges stemming from her disobeying Nagala's orders not to use nuclear weapons and Colonel Baltimore is also here to arrest her on charges of Crimes Against Humanity. It seems Admiral Cain's order resulted in the deaths of three million people in the city of Melbourne, Australia."

I presented Col. Belzen with an envelope containing new orders written in both English and Colonial Basic. "In this envelope are the orders for the arrest of Helena Cain. They are written in both our main languages. That way there will no misunderstandings in this affair. If you are wondering about the joint wording it is because on the very day of the Cylon attack on the Colonies, General Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill commanding the Joint Fleet of Earth was prepared to attack as well, but we detected the Cylons before they launched the attack. Unfortunately he could not be every where nor could our fleet, so places like Scorpia and some of the outer colonies were hit harder than Caprica and the inner colonies. As of 2400 hours Caprica City Time there has been a truce between Earth and the Twelve Colonies also the last of the Cylon Basestars have been driven from the Colonies. We are working now on establishing a peace between our peoples. One last step needs to be done though Colonel. The people of Earth especially the people of Australia want Admiral Cain to answer for her crime. It is viewed on Earth that first use of nuclear weapons is a war crime. I know several nations have them, but for most of us the possession is a deterrent to their use by other nations."

I looked at Col. Belzen and noticed he was not as conflicted as I had first thought. He looked back at me and then to Capt. Shaw. "Colonel, Captain, you know she will think that this is mutiny. We are after all a combat ship in the midst of a war. Yet something has to be done. Are other officers to be arrested?"

"No Colonel, in fact here are your orders promoting you to Commander signed by Admiral Corman," Shaw said as she handed him another envelope. "Don't worry it is all legal. We don't want to do any of this without the proper legalities looked after. The Admiralty is even sending a Colonial Fleet Judge Advocate General Services Attorney back on the Independence to defend Admiral Cain, though I think all he or she will do is to keep Cain from being executed."

Looking at Colonel, no now Commander Belzen I smiled, "Don't worry about calling any Marines here or to the Admiral's quarters. I have already taken the liberty. In fact a Squad of Colonial Marines and one of United States Marines should be already in the main conference room. Shall we go arrest Cain and get this job done with?"

We waited for Admiral Cain to come into the main conference room. She was escorted by her lover Gina Inviere. The Admiral looked at me in my USMC dress blues and my Marines in their USMC forest MARPATs and her Marines in their black BDUs. Kendra did the honors, "Admiral Helena Cain in the name of the People of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol and also in the name of the People of the United Nations of Earth you are hereby arrested on the charges of Crimes Against Humanity and willfully disobeying the lawful orders of a superior officer." Kendra then nodded to her Marines and they secured the Admiral. They took from her the knife she always had. Next she surrendered her side arm and two female Marines searched her for any other weapons she may have had. Afterwards we all the Marines, Shaw, I, Gina Inviere, and Admiral Cain were teleported over to the Independence. We flew directly to Earth from where we were and Cmdr. Belzen took the Pegasus home to the Colonies.

_**CNN Report on Earth and a Colonial News Service subspace feed in the Colonies from The Hague Netherlands two years later:**_

This is D'Anna Biers reporting for both the Cable News Network and the Colonial News Service from The Hague in the Netherlands on Earth. Today the now Interstellar Tribunal on War Crimes has passed its judgment on the matter of former Rear Admiral Helena Cain of the Colonial Fleet. Today after a long trial where she answered to charges stemming from the nuclear attack on Earth during the Colonial Invasion attempt Helena Cain was found guilty of all counts including the illegal first use of nuclear weapons, willfully disobeying lawful orders not to use nuclear weapons, and the murder of over three million civilians resulting from the use of nuclear weapons. The Council of Judges for the Tribunal, four from Earth and four from the Colonies, will decide former Admiral Cain's fate later this week. Back to you Wolf…

I switched off the TV and turned back to my guest. Hal was at work in town, but Kendra had stopped by on leave to visit me and Hal. We, the three of us had become quite close in the weeks after the Second Cylon War and before Hal and I were repatriated to Earth. Now we enjoyed a few weeks of pleasure and fun while Kendra was here. We showed her around Colorado before she had to return to Caprica and the Colonial Fleet. I got pleasure from watching her eyes take in the wonder of Earth's beauty. Kendra and I spent the day together. We weren't always fully clothed either during that time.

_**ABC report from one of the joint Earth-Twelve Colonies of Kobol colonies on the edge of Human Space interrupts the normal broadcast of Good Morning America:**_

This is George Stephanopoulos with a special report from our reporter Aaron Scott embedded with troops on the frontier of human space. Go ahead Aaron.

(A Caucasian man with brown hair and a goatee wearing khaki shirt and pants, black body armor saying PRESS in bold white letters and a black Kevlar helmet tried to talk over the cacophony of explosions, automatic weapons fire and other sounds of a new war. The man was ducking below a wall as was obviously his camera operator.)

George, I am with a company of Colonial Marines on one of the worlds we have recently settled in a joint effort with the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. At about noon local time every settlement came under attack. First there was an orbital bombardment followed by the landing of troops. We have not yet been able to get a good look at our attackers, but word is that they are not the Lucian Alliance.

Hal, Kendra, and I were in my living room in our home outside Telluride, Colorado. Kendra's face turned pale as the morning's news came over the television which was tuned to Good Morning America. Kendra was visiting before returning to her duties as Chief of Security on the Colonial Battlestar Pegasus. Then our telephone rang. I answered it.

"Hello, yes she's here," I handed the handset to Kendra, "It's for you Kendra."

Kendra took the handset and began to talk excitedly in Colonial Basic to the party on the other end. Then she switched to English, "Yes sir General O'Neill I understand. I will wait for the Raptor at Colonel Baltimore's house. Thank you sir," She then hung up. "Charly it looks like I am off to War again. Hal, I will be back when it is over or on furlough time permitting."

I had finally retired at the rank of full-Colonel from the US Marine Corps and resumed teaching at the high school I was teaching at before the Generals O'Neill came into my life. Kendra, Hal, and I later enjoyed a final night together and I had my two best friends and lovers in the Galaxy to celebrate my new found freedom. Sadly before Kendra could come and be with us regularly she had her obligation to the Colonial Fleet to complete. It was nice to see her wearing the pins of a Major in the Colonial Fleet. Yet I cried as I hugged her goodbye and gave her another soulful kiss before she had to go catch the Raptor that was landing in my front yard.

- End -


End file.
